When I started these gouache and watercolour on paper paintings in early 2023, they were fairly experimental. Gradually I worked out a system of sorts: I make three or four preliminary line drawings based on a landscape or a detail of a period painting that has a composition that interests me. Once I've "learned" the image by repeatedly drawing it, I use the most resolved one as a guide as I paint the lines using a single colour on a larger piece of paper. Once the line work is complete I no longer refer to the original reference material, I choose the colours for each of the shapes in an improvisational way, like a game of chess where one move opens up a realm of possibilities for the next move.
Cardoons / 2024 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 50" x 38"
Leelah in the Garden / 2024 / watercolour on paper / 40" x 26"
Down the Lane to the Appledore Woods / 2024 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40” x 26”
Along the Coastline / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40”x 26”
Nuances of this new work clearly relate to the style and energy of work done 40 years ago in the early 1980's.
A Collaboration With My Fourteen-Year-Old Self / 2024 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40”x 26”
Primordial Landscape / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40”x 26”
The Taw-Torridge Estuary / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40” x 26”
Shadows in a Cave / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 24" x 18"
Path Up the Mountain / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 37” x 26”
Mountainscape / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 40”x 26”
Oak Tree / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 18” x 24”
Dancer / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 18” x 24”
Desert Wave / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 18” x 24”
Gulf Stream / 2023 / watercolour and gouache on paper / 26" x 40"
Work from 2023 and 1983